Are you kidding me? The guy is not under arrest??? The Japanese should take him back to Japan and run him through their criminal justice system. Throwing rotten food at the whalers is one thing, but clandestinely boarding a foreign vessel is kind of a big deal. The trust fund babies need a dose of reality.
----------------------
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/australianzealandjapanwhalingAnti-whaling activist boards Japanese ship: official
Mon Feb 15, 1:00 am ET
SYDNEY (AFP) – An anti-whaling activist has boarded a Japanese security ship to make a citizen's arrest of its captain over the sinking of a high-tech boat, an animal rights group and an official said on Monday.
New Zealand's Pete Bethune, captain of the futuristic Ady Gil powerboat which was smashed in two on January 6, jumped aboard the Japanese ship from a jetski under the cover of darkness, the Sea Shepherd group said.
"This was an impossible mission," spokesman Paul Watson said in a statement.
"Captain Bethune boarded a Japanese whaling fleet security ship at high speed in total darkness, breached the spikes and anti-boarding nets and is presently onboard, and the Japanese crew are still not aware that he is there.
"He is there to demand justice for the sinking of his ship."
Sea Shepherd said Bethune would try to arrest the Shonan Maru 2's captain for "the destruction of the Ady Gil and attempted murder of the six Ady Gil crewmembers".
He would also attempt to hand over a three million US dollar bill for the destruction of the state-of-the-art trimaran, which set the round-the-world powerboat record under its former name, Earthrace.
"Sea Shepherd anticipates that the Japanese will hold Captain Bethune as prisoner onboard the Shonan Maru 2," the group's statement added.
In Japan, a spokesman for the fisheries agency later confirmed that an activist had boarded the ship.
"He is now in Japanese custody. It is not an arrest. Under existing laws, the captain can take measures as he considers necessary," the spokesman said.
"Nothing is really happening. The man is not being belligerent."
The agency spokesman added that the man was receiving medical care after injuring a finger while boarding the ship.
The spokesman declined to comment on possible legal action against the activist and on how Japan would treat the compensation claim over the destruction of the Sea Shepherd vessel.
The Sea Shepherd activists claim to have saved the lives of hundreds of whales by harassing the annual hunt, which kills the animals using a loophole in an international moratorium which allows "lethal research".
Australia and New Zealand have called for restraint from both sides in their Antarctic clashes, with the activists deploying laser-like devices and stink bombs and the Japanese fleet operating military-style acoustic weapons.
